


The Patience of Angels (is nonexistent)

by starsystems



Series: summerpornathon 2012 [3]
Category: Merlin (TV), Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Community: summerpornathon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-21
Updated: 2012-08-21
Packaged: 2017-11-12 13:52:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/491770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsystems/pseuds/starsystems
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I am the one who raised you from the pit and put you back together."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Patience of Angels (is nonexistent)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for summerpornathon 2012. Fusion with Supernatural.

These things Arthur Pendragon knows: He had one job that mattered and he failed in it. He failed the promise he made to his father, to protect Morgana. He had died and gone to hell for her, but it hadn't been enough because he had left her alone, and hadn't that been the job? To stay with her, to keep her safe and to never look back. Now Morgana is lost. Arthur is not cut out to deal with this alone. To deal with anything alone, really, so he will continue to try and save her. Even if it's too late, until she's back with him or until it kills him finally for the last time.

"There are no such things as angels," he says to the strange creature before him. It looks like a human but it's crackling with power that Arthur can sense, can almost touch with his fingertips. But it isn't a demon, he can't smell any sulfur. Instead, he smells ozone and the powdery smell of feathers.

"I am an angel of the lord," the creature says and stares at Arthur with its blue eyes. The gaze is clear and unwavering, and so blue that Arthur gets lost in it, a little. The eyes are always the thing that betrays the supernatural. But where demons have inky black eyes that are like staring into the abyss, this creature's eyes flash golden, like the halos Arthur imagined on angels when he was a child.

The lights flicker overhead and Arthur can feel static electricity dancing on his skin.

"I am the one who raised you from the pit and put you back together," the creature says and smiles. "I am here because you are needed once more."

"Hold on," Arthur says. "Needed? For what?"

"To save the world," the angel says.

*

The angel's name is Emrys, but after the thing with the sword, Arthur starts calling him Merlin. He doesn't seem to mind.

*

The motel room Arthur is staying in is small and dingy, the darkness spreading from the corners where the light of the weak lamps can't reach. He grabs a beer from the fridge and wonders if he should call Gaius when the lights flicker and Merlin says:

"There is no such thing as a guardian angel."

"Yeah, I've had that figured out since I was five," Arthur says and wills his heart to quiet down. "Would you stop trying to scare me to death every time you decide to stop by?"

"There is no angel on everyone's shoulder, protecting them," Merlin continues, ignoring Arthur. "I keep coming across this particular belief all the time in my dealings with humans and it confuses me. Why, despite all the evidence in the contrary, you still choose to believe that?"

"I don't know," Arthur says and shrugs, turning to put his beer on the counter. "My mum used to tell me that when I was a child. _There is an angel watching over you, Arthur_ , she would say. It's just a nice lie to make you feel safe, I think."

"She was right," Merlin says.

Arthur snorts. "You just said..."

Merlin cuts him off. "You are special. You have always been special. You die and you are resurrected or reborn, always, for one purpose. You are the saviour, the one that saves the world and I am always here, watching over you. That is my job."

"No offence, but you haven't been doing a very good job of it," Arthur says, because there's something coiling in the pit of his stomach and he has to ignore it before it takes shape and becomes trust and belief and all the things that never bring anything good with them.

"Angels are soldiers," Merlin says and Arthur can swear he sees him rolling his eyes. "I am not your babysitter, I am your backup."

*

Kissing an angel, Arthur finds out, feels a lot like licking a battery. There is the sizzling power on his tongue and the feeling of doing something you know you aren't supposed to do. He lets Merlin push him against a wall and grab at his clothes. Arthur kisses him back and gasps when Merlin pushes a thigh between his legs and presses even closer. This is an angel, Arthur thinks. What can he save when he has failed even in this?

"You are worth it," Merlin mutters into his mouth. Then he pauses, breathing hot air on Arthur's neck. "It's funny," he says. "To love is not like falling at all."


End file.
